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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511034">Stranger Things but With OCs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/K1ngtok1/pseuds/K1ngtok1'>K1ngtok1</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretaryOats/pseuds/SecretaryOats'>SecretaryOats</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blease don't read if you don't know my ocs i beg of you-, F/F, F/M, I love them and i want them to suffer, M/M, Mainly centres around my ocs, Multi, i don't know why i did this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:02:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511034</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/K1ngtok1/pseuds/K1ngtok1, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretaryOats/pseuds/SecretaryOats</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lucas Bronlee disappears, the city of Earinald falls to the hands of 3 kids, 2 teenagers and 3 adults in sexual tension.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Deceit | Janus Sanders/Dr. Emile Picani, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Dr. Emile Picani, Nath/Maple/Philip, maybe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Made by a 13 year old who has too much free time.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1.<br/>It was game night at Philip’s house today. </p><p>And yes, it was hectic as usual. Dungeons and Dragons was something to take very seriously and anyone who disagrees can go suck on a rotten lollipop (Nath’s exact words). The four kids who often spent their time together in and after school made an agreement to plan a campaign today. They were in the basement, all prepared with snacks and Nath being a human (for once she picked something other than an elf), Maple being an elf, Philip being the game master, and Lucas being a gnome. The four gathered around the table, eager to finish the campaign while still having fun. It’s been 10 hours and the finale was right around the corner. The final battle.</p><p> </p><p>“Something's coming.. Something hungry for blood. A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness.. It’s almost here.” The game master narrated, his voice the only thing filling up the room as the other three listened closely, their imaginations doing their work. “What is it?” Lucas asked but Nath was quick to guess “What if it’s the demogorgon? Oh Zeus, we’re so screwed if it’s the demogorgon-” “It’s not the demogorgon!” Maple retorted, a clear annoyance in his voice. </p><p>“An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!” Philip announced, placing the troglodytes piece on the game map. Nath had an amused smirk now, glad that they weren’t doomed “Troglodytes? Really?” “Told ya.” Maple also snickered. Lucas giggled, seeing the piece on the board. No offense to Philip but he’s getting pretty predictable. Philip also chuckled lightheartedly, a nervous blush creeping onto his face. </p><p>And then his expression dropped, nervousness seeping into his voice “Wait a minute..” He turned his head to the side to take a glance at the ground beside him “..did you hear that? That- that sound..” </p><p>This intrigued the other players, now focusing again on what Philip was saying. What was he planning? “Boom.. boom.. BOOM!” The sudden raise in voice made the other players flinch, Lucas being the most frightened. “That didn’t come from the troglodytes. No.. no, that..” Philip’s gaze now met the group, their curiosity and nervousness now coming back </p><p>“That came from something else.”</p><p>Nath looked to Maple, an unsure look on her face from what she was hearing. Did she just jinx it? Maple looked back to Nath with a bit of a bored expression and an eyebrow raised ‘She jinxed it.’ </p><p>Philip slammed the monsterpiece on the game map “The Demogorgon!” And everyone immediately panicked.</p><p> </p><p> “We’re in deep shit!” Nath was first to exclaim.</p><p>“Lucas, your action!” Philip demanded. “I-i dunno!” Was the best he could answer though, the sudden demand catching him off-guard. </p><p> </p><p>“Fireball him!” Maple suggested, “But I’d have to roll a 13 or higher!” Was Lucas’ defense.</p><p>“Too risky, cast a protection spell-” Maple tried to advise but soon got cut off by Nath “Don’t be a wimp. Fireball him!” “No, cast Protectio-” </p><p>“The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering. It stomps towards you!” Philip was much too amused at the sight of his friends trying to decide on what to do. Oh how the turntables. </p><p>“Fireball him!” “Another stomp.” “Lucas, cast Protection!” “It’s getting closer-” “UH- FIREBALL-” Lucas decided in panic, rolling the dice and haphazardly throwing the dice a bit too far. </p><p>“Shit-” “Where’d it go?” “I don’t know!” “Find it!” The group immediately stood up and scampered to find the dice, searching under the tables and chairs. </p><p>“Is it a 13?” Nath was still very much worried on if they were doomed or not, </p><p>So yeah, Nath was pacing back and forth, repeating “Oh my Zeus” over and over, Lucas and Maple were searching for the dice, and Philip was just watching in his chair, sipping his bottle of tea. </p><p>In the middle of that happening, Maria, Philip’s mother had been calling Philip. After 5 minutes of no response, she sighed and opened the door to the basement, holding a basket of laundry “Philip!” and the boy’s head perked up at the sound of his mom’s voice “Mom, we’re in the middle of a campaign!” “You mean the end of the campaign? It’s almost ten and you know the rules..” She simply stated and walked back to the living room. </p><p>The others, who all heard the mother, now groaned “Dangit!” “Why do we have to go?” “Freaking heck!” Philip rushed up the stairs and attempted his best to negotiate with the mother “Mom, just 20 more minutes!” He tried to negotiate, walking into the living room and seeing his mother turning off the tv “It’s a school night, Pip. You can finish the campaign next week.” “But that’ll ruin the flow!” “Philip-” “The campaign took two weeks to plan! How was I gonna know it was gonna take ten hours?” She abruptly stopped cleaning up “..you’ve been playing for ten hours?” “..touché. Fine, I'll get them out.” He sighed in defeat and walked back down to the basement.</p><p>“Found it!” Lucas proudly held up the dice and went up to Maple, who was pulling up his hood over his head and getting his bag.</p><p> “Hey M, does the seven count?” “Did Philip see it?” “No.” “Then it doesn’t count.” Maple smirked mischievously before walking up the basement stairs, Lucas following close behind. But before they took the last step, Nath spoke up from the bottom of the stairs “Hey guys? Anyone want this?” “No.” They both replied simultaneously, in which Nath smiled ‘Got the lollipops for myself then!’ </p><p>With a lollipop popped in her mouth, Nath walked up the basement, heading for the front door when she heard some voices from August’s room. ‘Oh right August didn’t want to join us today.’ Despite being the closest to Philip (being his brother and all), August wasn’t too close to the gang. He started getting.. distant. </p><p>She peeked in the room. August was laying down on his bed calling someone on the phone “Hey August! I got a couple lollipops left! Want some, bud?” Nath called out. August flinched at the sudden voice and got up quickly “N-no thank you! Um, ple-please leave!” He slammed the door on her. </p><p>“..how rude!”</p><p>---------</p><p>“There’s something wrong with your brother, I swear.” Nath grumbled, placing her lollipops in her saddle bag and unlocking her bike, “What are you talking about?” Everyone except for Philip himself seemed to understand what she meant, “He’s gone all goody-goody.” She explained, “Yeah, it’s because he’s been dating that asshole, Jophiel Winne.” Maple added, getting on his bike, “Dude, August has always been goody-goody. He’s a soft egg.” The brown haired boy tried to reason. </p><p>“No, he used to be cool. As in, soft but not annoying.” Nath now got on her bike and went off, but not before adding “Like that time he and Griffin sneaked us into a college dorm so we can see the stars on the roof!” “Nath, that was like two years ago!” “Just sayin’!” And with that, she disappeared with the turn of the road. “Later, Pip.” Maple gave a two finger salute before also peddling away. </p><p>So that left Philip just about to say goodbye to Lucas. But just as he was about to say goodbye, Lucas spoke first “It was a seven.” That confused Philip for a moment “What?” </p><p>“The roll. It was a seven.” Lucas repeated, treating the sentence more like a confession more than anything before continuing, “The demogorgon. It got me.” He said with a bit of a sad smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Well uh, see you tomorrow!” He said before pedaling away as well. Philip waved with a smile “Stay safe!” </p><p>“Goodnight, bitches. Dream about me when you go to bed.” “Kiss your mom ‘night for me, asshole.” Maple and Nath had their usual pesky retorts before Maple turned to a different street to his house, leaving Nath with Lucas. “Race you back to my place? Winner gets something from my bow collection” Nath asked the ghostly pale boy. He nodded with a wide grin “Any one of your bows?” Receiving a nod from Nath, Lucas started nyooming his bike to the direction of her house.</p><p>“Hey- hey! I didn’t say go!” She yelled, caught off guard and now raced him. “Get back here!” But he already passed by her house sooner. </p><p>Realizing she lost the game that she made herself, Nath cursed under her breath when getting off her bike to enter her house “Son of a bitch.” </p><p>Lucas was already pedaling off. </p><p>--------</p><p>In the short 2 minutes after he won the race, Lucas was still riding his bike fast. </p><p>Maybe that’s why he failed to swerve in the other direction in time when he saw a dark figure on the road. </p><p>He fell off his bike and rolled into a dry and drained ditch, having barely enough time to process what was going on. Sitting up on the dirt and taking one look at his bi- yep. Yep, it’s broken “Shit.” He cursed before getting up and running off to his house, getting in from the backdoor. Whatever that thing on the road was, it wasn’t human. </p><p>“Logan?! Lo!” Why wasn’t he answering? Lucas called out in the house, opening the bedroom doors only to find no one, “Logan?! Logan!! Lo? Looo!! Logan!” No one was in the house. </p><p>A creeping figure lurked in the shadows. </p><p>The lights suddenly went off. </p><p> </p><p>And that was the day Lucas Bronlee disappeared.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2.</p><p>“Where in the everloving fuck are they??” It was morning and Logan was already tired of his car keys disappearing bullshit. The living room smelled like heaven though, all thanks to Griffin cooking breakfast today. To Logan, Griffin was a blessing around the house. He never would have survived without his help. “Check the couch, Logan!” The younger called from the kitchen, making the last of the dishes for the small family. </p><p>He dove to the couch again, shoving the pillows aside and looking for the small metal pieces “I did! The motherfucker decided to disappear on me! Son of a bitch, cocksucking, bastard, piece of shi-” There was a sound of metal clinking, “..found ‘em.” </p><p>Griffin snorted, glancing at him glaring down hard on his keys before continuing to make scrambled eggs. “Okay uh, Grif, is it okay if you walk Lucas to school? It’s okay if you can’t but-.” God, he sounded like a mom “No, it’s okay Lo! No worries man, My parents won’t be worried for a while anyway. y’know my parents are di-” “Language.” Logan interrupted, putting on his coat “You literally spat out 5 different curses at your car keys because you couldn’t find them.” </p><p>“..touchè. Thanks again Grif, see you tonight.” Logan got his suitcase and headed for the front door  “See ya later.” Wait. Wait, something’s missing. Usually two voices would say goodbye before he went off, “Oh shit, uh, did you wake Lucas up yet? I don’t want him to be late for school.” Usually he was already up at this hour, if not going to school way ahead of Griffin. </p><p>“Oh, i haven’t woken him up yet. ‘M making breakfast, remember?” Shit. New task for Logan this morning: wake up his mildly annoying little brother. He sighed and made his way to Lucas’ bedroom, opening the door “Lucas! Get up, it’s time for scho-” But the bed was empty.</p><p>A lump began to form in his throat but he then added with a much serious tone, “..Lucas? Lucas, if this is one of your pranks again, i swear-” No response.</p><p>He marched out of the room, nervousness beginning to grow in his chest “Hey Grif? Did he get home before you left?” Griffin turned off the stove and started to wash his hands in the sink, “He’s not in his room?” He hesitated on answering ‘no’ for the sole reason that it might make Logan panic.</p><p> But Logan panicked nonetheless “Shit, Grif, did he come home before you went home?” It wasn’t Griffin’s fault in the slightest, he knew that. It wasn’t Griffin’s fault that he also had a life outside of helping them both. </p><p>Still, brotherly instinct made him feel a tiny bit of dissapointment. </p><p>“N-no. No, he didn’t. I-i went home at 9 yesterday.” he cursed his stutter, putting the breakfast plates on the table. He should’ve known something was up when Lucas hadn’t arrived by 9. “He uh- he was at the Folliers place all day. Maybe he stayed over.” Thank god for rational thinking. </p><p>Logan didn’t need to be told twice, picking up the wall phone and dialing the Follier’s place. </p><p>The Folliers, meanwhile, were all gathered round at the table having breakfast. Two moms and two sons. Philip, the dumbass he is, pours orange juice into his cereal rather than milk, which makes August cringe “..gross.” “Your mom’s gross.” “W-we have th-the same-” “Boys!” Maria, who was next to Rina, huffed, very much offended with that comment.</p><p> The phone suddenly rang. Maria put down her utensils and got up from her chair picking up the annoying ringing phone “Hello hello?”</p><p> “Hi uh, Maria? It’s Logan.” <br/>“Logan? Oh hi!”<br/>(“Wh-who’s- who’s calling?” “Shush, hold on-”)</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Is that Lucas over there?” </p><p>“No, it’s just August. We’re having breakfast.”</p><p>“Wait, Lucas didn’t spend the night there?”</p><p>“No, he left a little bit after 9.” </p><p>“Oh..”</p><p>“..why? Is he not home?” </p><p>“Um, y’know what? I think he just left early for.. for school. No biggie.”</p><p>“Logan, are you sure nothing’s wro-”</p><p>“Yeah thanks bye!”</p><p>He hung up, the unwavering anxiety starting to fill up his chest. Griffin and Logan stood in the living room, silent as they contemplated what to do.</p><p>--------</p><p>The gang arrived at Hawkins middle school, parking and locking their bikes away at the school side. Philip took a look at the spots and realized that there was one that was empty. Lucas’ spot.  “..That’s weird. I don’t see him.” He commented. </p><p>“‘M telling you. Logan’s right. He probably just went to class early again.” Nath tried to assure Philip with a pat on the back. Maple had other ideas on the matter but followed suit in trying to reassure Philip “Yeah, he’s always paranoid that Johnson’s gonna give him a pop quiz.” </p><p>Not even 3 steps to the school building and Oliver , the world’s grade A asshole with the sidekick, decided to bother them “Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!” He announced loudly, his buddy right behind him. </p><p>The three internally groaned and turned around to face them, already knowing where this was going. Oliver is gonna say something and demand something from them, they follow their orders so that they don’t get an even worse punishment and then go back to their daily lives while talking shit about how awful Oliver is to let some steam out.</p><p>“Step right up and get your tickets for the freakshow!” Nath bit back a scowl at that last word. “Rich, who’d you think would make more money for a freakshow?” Oliver asked his goon. “Depressing crystal ball,” He gave Maple a hard shove, “Vampire reject,” then Philip, “Or the arson clown?” And finally a hard shove to Nath that made her have to take a step back.</p><p>“Don’t fucking talk like that to the-” ''QUIET!” And Maple immediately shut up, not wanting to pick too much of a fight.</p><p>Oliver’s goon thought for a moment before pointing at Nath “I’d go with girly. She can’t even juggle for a whole minute and it looks hilarious.”</p><p>“You’ve only seen me juggle in 5th grade. I’ve gotten way be-” “I’vE gOttEn wAaAy bettEr! Jeez, learn to shut up!” He mocked. Oliver looked at her and then demanded, “Do the fire thing.” After a couple seconds of the three glaring at them, and Nath reluctant to do it, Oliver demanded again “Do it freak!” </p><p>With a sigh, Nath put her hands together and put her right thumb on the bottom of her left palm, dragging the thumb from the bottom of the palm to the edge of the middle finger with a sharp ‘flick!’ and producing a couple red sparks from her palms. She hissed and quickly patted her hands on her clothes to soothe the burn. </p><p>Both boys groan, starting to shove past them after they had their fun  “Jesus, it gets me every time!” </p><p>“..assholes.” Maple hissed after a couple seconds of silence from the gang. “I think it’s kind of cool.” It was Philip’s turn to reassure Nath now, “Kinda like you’re a superhero or something.” That made a smile creep up on Nath’s face, the three now starting to walk to the entrance of the school again “Like Phoenix or Ghost Rider?” She asked with a bright tone, in which Philip nodded. “Doesn’t it hurt though when you do that?” Maple asked, seeing the red that started to grow on Nath’s left palm, “Whatever Oliver had in store for you guys if i didn’t would hurt worse.” She was quick to say. </p><p>“He’s a bitch.”</p><p>“Aye aye.”</p><p>-------</p><p>Hawkins Police centre was certainly something special. Not something to be nationally treasured, mind you but it would certainly have a place in your mind if you ever visited Hawkins. </p><p>One of these cops had the name of Janus Anwir. Best in the force, hates everything involved with his job and is saving up to get a better and less life threatening job in the future.</p><p>Whenever that would be. </p><p>“Anwir, it’s the uh, that Cato guy. He’s been here since like, 7 and waiting for you.” Harrison, the guy behind the lobby desk, informed the blonde when he clocked in. Janus gave a grunt as a reply and made his way to the tea box, “Yeah yeah, I’ll get to that.” “Janus, he looks pretty upset maybe you should-” “CHAMAMELE TEA first, case later.” In his defense, tea only takes like, 2 minutes. </p><p>After gulping down his tea like the grandma that he is, Janus opened the door to his office where he immediately saw a figure sitting right across from his seat. Logan Cato.</p><p>------</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 3</p><p>The sound of typing filled the room. Janus was now filing a missing person’s report for this.. Mr Cato’s cousin. His opinion? Probably gonna be solved in a day or two. Since kids are delinquent little shits. </p><p>“Anwir, I have been waiting here for over an hour.” “So we’re calling each other by our last names now?” </p><p>Logan scoffed and continued, “This is already driving me fucking insane-” “Look, boy his age, he’s probably just playing hookie or some shit like that. Don’t stress it too much, Lo.” The nickname slipped but the other didn’t seem to notice, going on with his rant “No. Not Lucas. He’s- He’s not like that. He wouldn’t do that!” Janus stopped typing and pinched the bridge of his nose.</p><p> “Well? You never know. My mom thought I was in the debate team when really I was screwing Larry Johnson in the back of my dad’s car, so..” Janus tried to reason but Logan persisted “He’s not.. He’s really not like that, Jan.” The name now made Janus meet Logan’s gaze “He’s a good kid. Annoying softie.” Logan continued. The blonde nodded, placing his hands on the table and gesturing for Logan to continue. Knowing him, he would need to vent about this, and he understood.</p><p>“Ever since the accident, it’s only been Lucas and me so please, for the love of all the stars above, fucking find him.” Logan pleaded, “He’s all I have.”</p><p>“..I’ll get right to it.” Janus knew better than to say no to Logan’s pleas.</p><p>-----</p><p>A lab in the outskirts of town was in a panic. </p><p>Subject 1318714 has escaped. </p><p>-----</p><p>“Dad! Daaad!” “Has it arrived yet?” “Mr Emile, tell uUUS-” </p><p>Mr Emile, the science teacher, chuckled at the three children who were in front of his desk, waiting eagerly for an answer “Sorry kids but,” Three looks of disappointment came but he scooped up a package under his desk, placing it now on the desk.<br/>“It came!” </p><p>The object in question was a Heathkit Ham Shack. A device that can send a message to local radios. The gang immediately got excited, Philip being the first to put on the device’s headphones and setting up the mic, “I bet we can talk to New York on this thing!” Maple commented, sitting down next to the desk with the others to marvel at the device.</p><p>Emile placed a hand under his chin “Hmm, think bigger.” </p><p>“California?” </p><p>“Bigger.” Emile was just as excited as the kids were, stars in his eyes and all. </p><p>“Australia?!” Nath cut in, to which Emile nodded. </p><p>“When Lucas sees this, he’s gonna lose his shit!” Philip exclaimed with a wide smile, setting up the audio and plugging the device in so that they could actually use this thing, “Language!” “Sorry-” Emile was having the widest smile ever at the sight of the kids having fun.</p><p>The radio tuned and Philip leaned in close to the mic, speaking in an Australian accent “Hello mates, this is Philip Follier, president of tha Hawkins Middle School AV Club!” There were snickers and giggles following soon after. Nath snatched the headphones from his head and put them on, earning a “Nath, what are you doing?” from the fit of giggles “Hello, this is Nathasya Anwir-Picani, secretary and treasure’ of the Hawkins Middle School AV Club! Do y’all ride kangaroos in the morning?” Another series of giggles followed.</p><p>Just as Maple was about to snatch the headphones and put them on, the principal came in with 3 officers behind him “Hello Mr Picani, may i borrow Nathasya, Maple and Philip please?”</p><p>“Dad?!” “Mr Anwir?” “Dickhead Snakeface?” The three kids were now certainly up for surprises today. </p><p>-----</p><p>“I swear I wasn't doing drugs-” “The only crime i ever committed was stealing one of Maple’s comic books on dragons-“ “You did what?!” “It was an accident-“ “How-“</p><p>Janus pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh “One at a time, will ya? Maple, you go first. What road did you say he usually takes from Philip’s house?”</p><p>“He takes Mirkwood.”</p><p>Janus rose a brow “..Mirkwood?” “Sounds made up to me.” Janus’ partner, Harrison, commented. </p><p>“It’s a real road! Where Cornwallis and Kersley meet. It’s the name that’s just made up. We took the name from Lord of The Rings.” “Well, The Hobbit-“ “Whatever!” </p><p>And they started bickering again. </p><p>“Hey- Hey hey! What did I just say? One at a damn time!” but a voice caught his ear, “We can help you look!” And that was from none other than Maple, which received a hit from Nath on the back of his head “Ow-! What was that for?!” “Shush!” She knew to not get into her dad’s work. Doing so would just lead to arguing. Even though in this case, she agreed with Maple. </p><p>Janus hesitated before saying “No.” Simple as that. “But Mr Anwir-” “No! How crazy do you think I am?! Allowing my kid to go off to whatever could be out there kidnapping kids?! No. You three are going to stay at home after school. Which means no investigating, no sneaking around and no nonsense.” He hissed. “This isn’t some fucking Lord of The Rings book.” (“The Hobbit.” Nath corrected “Shut up!” Both boys shushed her.)</p><p>The three kids looked at each other and then back to the cop, not really knowing what to say. So Janus spoke again, “Do I make myself clear?” More silence. “Do I make myself clear?” He repeated but with a raised voice. The three kids nodded “Yes, sir.” </p><p>“You’re dismissed. Get back to recess.” Janus stated. The trio got up and went out the door, but just before Nath could get out, Janus added something to that previous statement “And i’m taking away your bike for the week.” “But wait Dad that’s not-!” Janus put up his hand to stop her from finishing her sentence, hearing it dozens of times before but never from her and he’d like it to stay that way. </p><p> </p><p>“Nath, I don’t want you going off where you could get hurt.” He put a hand on her shoulder, using a soft tone “..please?”</p><p>“..okay, dad.” </p><p>-------</p><p>There was a castle in the woods. </p><p>Not necessarily a good one. It was made of sticks and thick sturdy branches. A small family in particular made it so the youngest could reside in it if he pleased. </p><p>But really, the person who actually made it was Logan. Everyone else had hands of sticks. </p><p>There was a time Lucas hid in the castle after an argument with Logan, a prank of some sorts going too far. Of course, it was his fault in all honesty but they both hurt each other’s feelings back there. </p><p>Logan sighed, pressing the doorbell button that was duct taped on the side of the door “..ding ding ding ding-” Another voice softly responded from the other side “..password?”</p><p>“Do I really have to gue-” “Yes.” The younger stated firmly. Logan couldn’t help the slightly amused smile crawling on his lips “..okay. What’s the password this time? Poltergeist?” “..dang it.” </p><p>Logan snorted and went inside, seeing Lucas curled up in a bundle of blankets “..’m sorry.” The younger one apologized, a clear hesitation in his voice. “No, Lucas, it’s uh-” Logan knew better than to say that it wasn’t his fault. It was. He just.. overreacted from the bad day that piled up, “I reacted in a manner that was inappropriate. I apologize.” “..why do you use formal ass words when you apologize?” “Language!” “Sorry-”</p><p>Logan went over to the bed and sat down next to Lucas “You hurt my feelings, Lo.” “And I have apologized.” “And I have accepted.” </p><p>The cousins looked at each other for a moment and snorted “We were having a mOMENT-” “I don’t partake in sappiness-” </p><p>There was a happy ending to that day. </p><p>Too bad Lucas wasn’t here.</p><p>Logan stood in front of the castle with a hesitation of entering. He didn’t bother to ring the doorbell that wouldn’t work. He didn’t bother to say any password. He just entered. </p><p>No one was there. He sighed and went out to the woods again to keep looking with Griffin. </p><p>-------</p><p>Subject 1318714 stayed with a nice man who owned a small restaurant. He wanted to take off the bandages. The subject denied, insisting to look only with one eye. </p><p>He didn’t want the owner to die yet. </p><p>Unknown to him, the owner called social services. </p><p>-------</p><p> </p><p>The search party looked in the first place they recommended. Mirkwood, or in other names, Hoard road, had a sharp turn with a couple dry ditches on the side. Janus and the other cops looked around, flashlight in hand as it was getting a bit dark. Blue hour. </p><p>Not even 5 minutes later, Janus spotted something glimmering in the ditch. Squinting his eyes, it was- it was a bike! “Guys, i found something!” He alerted the team, going off to the ditch, sliding down carefully and pointing the flashlight at it from a few sides. The bike was broken, “Shit.” Harrison and a few others slid down to the ditch.</p><p>“You know the protocol. Tell the family first and then we investigate the bike. Anwir, you tell the family since you were clo-” “No.” He scoffed, “No, what the hell? You want me to tell my ex that the only thing we found of him was a bike?” </p><p>“Janus, you’re the only guy that can put this to him gently. Come on, man. You know how he is.” One more word out of them and Janus might snap. But in defeat, he nodded “Fine.” </p><p>-----</p><p>“So it was just lying there??” “Yeah.” Janus noticed something along the way to Cato’s house. How much he.. misses the place. </p><p>“I don’t understand. Did it have any blood on it or..?” Logan, who spent the last 4 hours in the woods trying to find his cousin, was exhausted and rationality was.. very much slipping. Janus pursed his lips and put a hand on his shoulder “Logan, I get that you’re worried. You have every damn right to be. But you need rest.” Logan swatted his hand away, “Not t’il I find him.” </p><p>Janus’ heart broke a little at that.</p><p>“Lo, i-” “Don’t fucking call me that.” “..Logan, I can assure you, we’ll find him.” He tried to convince him. Griffin spoke to the other cops in the meanwhile, “I just.. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t come home. He had the fucking keys to the house.” The cops listened closely, though unsure how to comfort the kid. </p><p>“I need.. to call someone. Give me a minute.” Griffin spoke plainly and walked away. Once in the guest room that may as well just be his own room with how much he stayed over, he picked up the phone on the side of his bed and dialed a number. A few dial tones rung before someone picked up.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Griffin? Wh-what’s up?”</p><p>“Uh.. August? Can we talk for a minute?”</p><p>“O-of course! Wha-what’s wrong?” </p><p>“..Lucas is missing.”</p><p>“I’m on my way.”</p><p>-----</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 4<br/>Janus stood up and snooped around the house when he got Logan to sleep (though it took him half an hour to convince him to do so). It’s been 3 hours now and that gave him quite some time to think about things. </p><p>Lucas had the key to the house. </p><p>So maybe he did come home but then left for some reason. </p><p> </p><p>With that thought in mind, Janus checked everywhere. Places where people wouldn’t have checked. Door sides, under the sofas, look for bullet holes of any kind, any rip from any fabric. </p><p>It was then he found a dent on the wall. Near Lucas’ door.</p><p>“What the hell..” Hypothesis: Lucas really did enter the house, slamming the door open and making the dent. A squeak came from behind him. And then some pots and pans clattering. Janus took out his gun and pointed behind him, “Hands in the fucking air.”</p><p>A ferret then came out from behind the fridge, it’s hands up in the air as it scoots out. Janus was 120% done with the past day’s nonsense but he will admit, that was a cute sight. He put the gun away and crouched down to pet the small creature “Sorry ‘bout that, little dude.” </p><p>“Did you know what happened here?” “squeak” The ferret ran off, “..you do?” Yep. He was going insane, about to follow a ferret. “Ramen, you’re a very intelligent ferret but i don’t think you can-” Janus continued listing the gentle reasons why Ramen wouldn’t be the best in the force but followed the ferret nonetheless. All the way back to the living room. </p><p>The ferret climbed and hopped onto the long shelves that usually held Lucas’ bag. It wasn’t there, as he suspected.</p><p>But what Janus did find was black goop on the side of the shelf “..what the- eW NO MY NAILS-” He just got them done this morning, give him a break. </p><p>“Jesus fuck- what the hell are you doing?” Logan’s voice came around the corner. He walked in the living room to see Janus touching something on the side of the shelf. “Jan, what in the everloving fuck?” </p><p>“Found somethin’” Janus tried not to get too distracted by the pajamas Logan was wearing. Unicorn onesie. It was cute as fuck. Logan crouched down with Janus to look at just what this goop was. It was like slime but smelled like sewer water. “The hell..?” “Weird, right?”</p><p>“I’ll take this to forensics.” Janus got a ziploc bag and scraped that shit in. “Yeah. Yeah okay.” Logan crossed his arms, standing up straight again. </p><p>“Make sure to get more rest. Griffin is at the Follier’s house right now but i can call him if you wa-” “No. No need. I kept him busy enough already.” Logan reassured. The blonde nodded and stood up, making his way over to the front door “Thanks for having me.”</p><p>“..Janus?” Logan suddenly called. </p><p>“What?” He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him. </p><p>“..nothing. It’s nothing. Thanks for helping.” He rushed. </p><p>Janus nodded and left, fighting the urge to run back in. </p><p>------</p><p>Dinner at the Follier’s house was always nice. It was double nice when Griffin came over. The family would usually talk about everything they did in their day. </p><p> </p><p>Today was luckily one of those days. Maria talked about her awful day at work, Rina nodding along and signing the nice day she had at the vet, August and Griffin making fun of a teacher because students have a right to hate homophobic teachers. Fuck homophobic teachers by the way. </p><p>And Philip.. was silent. No one really blamed him, considering what happened to one of his closest friends. </p><p>So August and Griffin decided not to pry, instead giving supportive pat-on-the-backs and both heading up to August’ room after dinner. “So what’ve you been up to these days?” Griffin made a conversation starter “Oh uh, ju-just hanging o-out with frie-friends.” August answered, biting the inside of his cheek from the nervousness. </p><p>“We should hang out more often though. I really miss hanging out with ya, bud!” He chuckled, ruffling August’s hair and making his way to take a seat on his bed next to August. The stuttering boy giggled and nodded “Y-yeah! We- we should!” </p><p>Griffin was about to put an arm around August shoulder when he flinched like he had just been slapped “Woah! Uh, you okay there?” “Y-yeah ‘m fi-fine.” He let Griffin put a protective arm around his shoulder. </p><p>“You know you can always talk to me if you need to. I’ve told you this a lot.” “Ri-right back a-at ya.” They both stayed there on the bed, just buds being buds.</p><p>Not crushing at all.<br/>“How’s you and Jophiel been doing?” They’ve been dating for about 6 months now. 6 months of Griffin gay panicking whenever they were both around. “We-we’re doing grea-great! A-actually! Um- Everything i-is go-going pretty sm-smoothly now.” August answered quickly. That made Griffin tilt his head in a bit of concern but he didn’t push it too much.</p><p>“..h-hey Grif?” “Yeah?” “Do y-you like ha-hanging around m-me?”</p><p>Griffin sucked in a sharp breath “Yes! Yes, of course! Why-“ He adjusted his position to look at his buddy, clear concern in his eyes now “Why did you suddenly ask that?” He was greeted with silence “August?” The other shook his head, “Y-you already ha-have enough pro-problems. I do-don’t.. want to cau-cause you mo-more trouble.” He couldn’t imagine the trouble Griffin was already going through with Lucas and Logan. It felt selfish to put more burdens on him.</p><p>But Griffin had other ideas. He held the sides of August’s face “August. Look at me.” He looked up at Griffin, listening closely “Your problems aren’t going to be a burden on me.” He stated firmly.</p><p>No words were needed to be spoken and there was no need for an explanation. August wrapped his arms around Griffin, “Hug. Just hug.”</p><p>“Okay.” Griffin nodded and gave a firm hug back “Okay.” He repeated softly, just the two of them there.</p><p>------</p><p>Janus came late to the night search party. “What kept you holding up?” Emile asked, shining the flashlight on him. </p><p>“Was at Logan’s place. We found a bike and I had to give it to him.”<br/>“And that took 5 hours?” <br/>“He was.. distressed.” Emile nodded to that answer, not really wanting to push on what happened. </p><p>The search party grew and people were calling Lucas’ name left and right. It was dark so a lot of them had flashlights in their hands. Still no sign of Lucas. None at all. </p><p>“He’s a good student, y’know.” Emile told Janus, “I’ve always had a distaste for science.” He wasn’t the best in school in general. “So uh, how was it at Logan’s house?” “It was.. adequate.” </p><p> </p><p>Awkward silence and crunching leaves on the ground ensued.</p><p>“Why do you ask?” Janus spoke up after a couple seconds “Oh it’s just uh, because the circumstances between you and him..” “I wasn’t doing any weird shit if that’s what you’re worried about.” “No no! I just uh- I think he’s-” Emile cleared his throat, a light blush crawling up his face, “I think he’s.. nice. It sucks that this.. happened to him.” </p><p>Janus furrowed his brows at that but gave a hum of agreement “Yeah. Yeah it does suck.” </p><p>“..you gotta sort out some stuff with him eventually, Jan.” Emile tried to advise, putting a hand on his shoulder. Janus shrugged it off, “I don’t- I don’t need to. He’s doing fine and I’m doing fine. This is fine.” </p><p>“..it doesn’t sound like it.”</p><p>------</p><p>Due to the circumstances of the trio not being able to leave the house, they used another solution. The perfect solution of children in the 80’s. Walkie talkies. Specifically, between Philip and Maple since Nath’s gadgets were taken away for the day by her dads. </p><p>“Maple, do you copy? It’s Philip. Over.” </p><p>“Hey, it’s Maple.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know it’s you. And say ‘over’ when you’re done so i know when you’re over. Over.”</p><p>“I’m done. Over.” <br/>“‘M worried about Lucas. Over.”</p><p>“[Sigh], yeah. This is crazy. Over.”</p><p>“I was thinking.. Lucas could’ve cast Protection last night. But he didn’t. He cast Fireball. Over.”</p><p>“..what’s your point? Over.”</p><p>“My point is.. He could’ve played it safe, but he didn’t. He put himself in danger to help the party. Over.”</p><p>“..meet me in ten. Over and out.”</p><p>------</p><p>“Guys, And i will repeat this one more time,” Nath took a deep breath. “You guys know my dads would kill me if they found out that I snuck out.” She told the two on her doorstep. </p><p>“Nath, I’m sorry we can’t discuss it sooner but we think we found something.” Philip attempted to negotiate, “Please? I’ll buy you more lollipops if you come help.” </p><p>“..okay. Make it double this time.” She sighed in defeat, running upstairs to get her bags and jacket. Thunder boomed outside the window. It was about to rain soon. </p><p>Maple leaned his side on the door frame “..why did we have to invite her? She’s such a priss.” “She’ll take a bullet for you and you know that.” “Fair.” </p><p>Nath came running down the stairs with her bag and raincoat, “Ready.” </p><p>They went off to Mirkwood in the rain with their own flashlights, yelling Lucas’ name. The rain came pouring down like cats and dogs, the road getting darker as the night went on. The three kept searching for their friend, eager to find their friend who they so desperately missed.</p><p>Maple then spoke up after a while “Guys, maybe we should turn back.” “Don’t be a sissy. We need to keep looking.” The sound of rain was almost deafening “I’m just sayin’. Maybe Lucas ran into something bad here. And we’re going back to the place he was last seen?” The two looked over to Maple, now listening. “Do you guys think this really is a good idea?”</p><p>Then there was a loud rustling from the ditch next to them.</p><p>Nath approached the ditch and tumbled down, yelping out and hitting something at the bottom. She looked up to see just what she hit and- “Nath! Holy shit, are you okay?!”</p><p>She saw a boy with short red hair and ghostly pale skin looking down at her. One of his eyes was bandaged.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 5 (Episode 2)</p><p>They were back at Philip’s basement. The trio.. and the boy they found. He was only wearing a hospital gown in the rain so Maple gave him his extra jacket so the kid wouldn’t be too cold. The boy sat on the couch, looking up at the three who were standing up in front of him. </p><p>“Is there a number we can call for you? Your parents?” “Why do you have a bandage on?” “Are you blind in one eye?” “Did you run away?” “Are you in some kind of trouble?” “..is that fucking blood??” </p><p> </p><p>Maple reached his hand out to touch the splatter of blood on the boy’s neck but his hand was immediately smacked away by Philip “Stop it! You’re freaking him out!” “He’s freaking me out!” “I think he’s deaf.” Nath spoke up, snapping her fingers in front of the boy. He flinched and backed down to the jacket. “..not deaf.” Nath corrected herself. </p><p>“Alright, that’s enough, all right? He’s just scared.. and cold.” Philip went upstairs to his room to get some clothes for the poor guy. Thunder rumbled outside, which made the redhead flinch and bury himself deeper into the soaked jacket. </p><p>Philip came back to the basement, holding a set of clothes, “Here, these are clean. Okay?” The boy took the clothes in his hands, wiping his wet face with it for a moment,</p><p>and then he stood up, starting to pull up his shirt “nONONO I’M GAY-“ “I’M STRAIGHT SORRY-“ “NO YOU UH- just- just change right over there, okay?” Philip pointed him to a spare room. Nath and Maple were having their panics in the corner of the room. Nath repeating ‘oh my zeus’ over and over and Maple just silently covering his face in shame. The boy tilted his head, looking over to the spare room and now being ushered bg a very flustered Philip to go in there “It’s called privacy. Got it?”</p><p>The redhead went into the room. Philip was about to close the door when he stopped him, “..you don’t want it closed?” Redhead shook his head “..no.” “Oh! So you can speak! Well um, how about we just keep the door..” Philip adjusted the door so that it was only slightly open. Lots of privacy. “..just like this? Is that better?” “..yes.” Philip nodded and went back to the main basement room to discuss with the others on what to do. Maple and Nath had already recovered from that little panic and were waiting for Philip. </p><p>“This is crazy.” “At least he can talk?” “He said ‘no’ and ‘yes.’ My three year old sister says more.” “He tried to get nAKED- seriously! He just went like-“ Nath made an exploding gesture with her hands. </p><p>Maple rolled his eyes at her antics, “He was wearing a hospital gown. Worst case scenario? He’s from a mental asylum because he’s insane and now he’s here to kill u-“ “Maple. Maple, calm down.” Nath put her hands firmly on Maple’s shoulders “Maple. Maple. Calm down. He’s not a murderer. Even if he was, he has the body of a toothpick so I don’t think he could even hold you down without you overpowering him.” </p><p>She gave his shoulders a firm squeeze “We’ll be fine.” </p><p>He sighed and nodded, “Okay. Thanks.” She let go of him after that. Philip thinks for a moment, contemplating on what to do. Maple then continued “..look, i really don’t think we should get involved with him.” “And just leave him out there in the rain?!” Philip deflected, “Yes! We went out there to find Lucas! Not another problem!” “I think we should tell your moms.” Nath added to Maple’s statement. </p><p>Philip’s eyes widened “No! No telling parents!” “And why not!” He then sighs “We weren’t supposed to sneak out! If we tell my mom, she’s gonna tell your mom and your parents will tell your dad..” Nath and Maple then looked at each other “Shit..” “Our houses become Alcatraz..” They finished. </p><p>“Exactly. We’ll never find Lucas in that case.”</p><p>They fell silent for a moment before Maple thought something up “Alright, here’s the plan. He sleeps at Nath’s house tonight.” Nath snapped her head up that it made a slight cracking sound “WHAT-“ “Nath, for once in your GODDAMN life, listen.” And with that, she shut up.</p><p>“Your dads are off to work, right? Mr Emile goes to school, Mr Janus is off finding Lucas. So in the evening, he’ll sneak around the backdoor, knock on the front door and say he’s lost! Your dad can deal with him, send him back to wherever he came from and we’ll be in the clear! Tomorrow night, we go back out.” Philip then went to his desk and picked up a photo of the group. They were all smiling in the picture, all together. “And this time? We find Lucas.” </p><p>Nath, Maple and the boy went out of the house through a window, now walking to Nath’s house. “..you really think he’s dangerous?” “..you three are more important to me than some random kid.” Maple’s house was right around the corner. Nath’s house was still a few minute walks away. “Be careful, clown.” “Right back at you, starbitch.”</p><p>——</p><p>“Okay so these are your blankets, mkay?” Nath set up a little pillow fort next to her giant royal purple canopy bed. The boy nodded and took the blankets gratefully “Oh! And uh, i never asked for your name?” Nath sat across from him. He looked up at her and hesitated before lifting his sleeve, revealing the numbers 1318714 tattooed on his arm, “Woah! Is that real?” She immediately reached out her hand to touch it, which he swatted away “S-sorry! I’ve just.. never met a kid who had a real tattoo before.” </p><p>She looked at the tattoo and then back at the redhead “What does it mean?” She asked. The boy pointed at himself. “..one-three-one-eight-seven-one-four is your name?” Nath tried to guess. The boy nodded. </p><p>She stood up and got a piece of paper “Hm.. we’ll need something more simple than that.” </p><p>After a few minutes of searching code books from her dad’s collection, she gathered the letters ‘MRGN’ so she started from that, trying to come up with a name for him. </p><p>“What about.. Morrigan?” A nod was received. “Morrigan it is!” Morrigan then pointed at her “..me? Oh! Uh! My name is Nath! Short for Nathasya! ..gasp! Maybe we can call you Morri! Short for Morrigan!” Nath suggested, which got a very excited nod from him. “Gotcha! So uh, I need to go to bed now. You remember the plan, right?” Another nod. “Yeah, just do that when you wake up and we’ll be a-okay!” </p><p>She turned off the lights and settled herself on her bed “Night, Morri.”</p><p>“..night, Nath.” </p><p>——</p><p>The Cato household was a mess. No, it was still clean as all hell. But something just felt off. Missing. Maybe it was the silence that was nearly palpable in the house. Or the way Logan buried himself in work, no voice to tell him to stop and rest. </p><p>Well, it was that way until Griffin came in the morning to help with breakfast. </p><p>“Logan, um, you need to eat. I made breakfast.” “Leave ‘em there.” He pointed at the empty spot of the living room table. “Lo, please?” He eventually gave in and started eating breakfast with Griffin. Once they were done, Logan spoke up again “..you need to go to school in 30 minutes. Is it okay if-“ “Yes.” “I haven’t even-“ Griffin stopped him with a smile, “Logan, I promised myself to do everything I can to help you. Give me the order and I’ll follow it through.”</p><p>Logan held back a sob at that. The past two days have been.. emotionally draining to say the least. “R-right. Can you make copies for the missing posters? One copy costs like, 10 ce-“</p><p>Then there was a call. </p><p>Logan stood up and picked up the phone. “Hello?”</p><p>“..Lo? Logan?” </p><p>And then it hung up. </p><p>Logan was frozen, he turned to Griffin “You- you heard that, right?” Griffin nodded, both parties now freaked out beyond belief. </p><p>A knock then came at the door. The sound snapped both of them out of their shocked state. Griffin stood up and opened the door. Janus stood at the door, not even managing to utter a single word before Logan dragged him in “Perfect timing! We just got a call from- from Lucas.” Janus blinked and looked over to Griffin “Uh, Logan? I told you to get some rest-“ “No. No, I heard it too.” Griffin spoke up. </p><p>The cop eyed the phone and picked it up, observing it. It was fried “Prank call?” He tried to guess. “No! That was him. I know that voice.” Logan protested. Janus looked at him sympathetically, “Don’t- don’t fucking look at me like that. You think.. you think we’re making this up?” “I’m not saying you’re making this up. I’m just saying that this is an emotional time for both of you.” He tried to calm him down. </p><p>“You think I don’t know the voice of the only family I have left? Wouldn’t you know your own daughter’s?” </p><p>Janus fell silent, looking to the ground, not of disappointment or anger but.. just sympathy. </p><p>Logan immediately regretted what he said, taking a step back “..Jan-“ “You hear from uh, your folks yet?” Janus cut off. “No. No, I haven’t. Don’t bothe-“ </p><p>“That’s it. I’m getting to them myself.” Janus stormed out of the house, impatient. “Janus, you're wasting your time!” Logan called out but he already made up his mind. </p><p>——</p><p>The Picani-Anwir household was a thing of many wonders. </p><p>The members of the household consisted of three people: Janus, Emile and their adopted daughter, Nath. Just three. Two fathers and one daughter. </p><p>Well, now there’s another edition.</p><p>“Morri? Morri- hey!” Nath woke up early so that she can make sure her plan would actually work. If they were going to do this, the first step is always the most important one. “Morrigan!” The poor boy jolted awake, rubbing his eyes from the sudden calling “h-hm..?” “Wake up! You need to hide! I forgot my dad is gonna check if I’m awake or not!” With that bit of information, Morrigan nodded and stood up with wobble knees, looking back to Nath with a confused expression. </p><p>“What?” It then clicked to her what he was asking “Oh! Uh- hide in my closet!” It was a walk in closet so he should be fine. The lights inside the closet were broken though. He took a look inside and hesitated. It was dark. Nath stood up and saw the hesitation that lingered “You’ll be safe! I promise.” She smiled, “but you have to help me out on this. I promise I won’t tell my dads you’re here.” “Promise?” The way he said it made it like he didn’t understand what the word meant. </p><p>“Do you not know what that means?” He shook his head. “Oh! It means saying something and actually doing it. And friends can never break a promise.” </p><p>“..friends?” Oh dear- “It means.. people who trust and care for each other.” He took a moment to nod and got in the closet. Nath shut the door of the closet and soon heard footsteps coming up to her room. Quickly thinking, she hopped on the bed and got in her blankets. </p><p>“Nath?” Emile’s voice came from the other side of the door. Three sharp knocks came and opened the door to her room “Kiddo, were you talking to someo-“ he started but then saw that she was still huddled up in bed and ‘newly awake’. “Oh sorry! Must’ve been the wind or something- wake up soon okay? I don’t want you to be late for class. Breakfast is ready downstairs! Love ya bye!” He whisper-yelled and closed the door before Nath could respond. </p><p>Waiting a few seconds, Nath then got back up again, swinging the closet door open “Okay! Coast is clear! Morri let’s-“ She was suddenly cut off by a sob. Nath looked down and- and Morri was crying, curled up in a ball. “Morri? Morri, what’s wrong?” She crouched down to see him better. What spooked him so bad that he was shaking like a scared deer? “Morri? I got you. It’s okay. No bad things are here, okay?” She tried to reassure, using the softest voice she could muster. </p><p>He looked up at her and a smile appeared on his lips “Morri, are you.. are you okay? You can have my lollipops! All of them! Please don’t be sad!” She offered. Morri nodded to the question “..promise.” He said with a proud smile. </p><p> </p><p>——</p><p>“Wh-Whatcha got the-there?”</p><p>“A smoothie.” Says Griffin, holding a smoothie in one hand and a camera twice his body’s size in the other. </p><p>“Pfft- o-okay?” They were behind the school at lunch, seeing as Griffin had a big breakfast and August wasn’t that hungry. They both had nothing better to do than hang out. Together. Alone. Behind the school.</p><p>Just buds being buds. </p><p>“Why d-do you ha-have a camera?” Maybe he was interested in photography now? Griffin set the camera on the ground, directioning the lens onto the open field. “Ms Leli told me I needed something else to do. Something to take my mind off.” She only wanted the best for him. But then again, maybe he really did need to have another activity to take his mind off. “So I chose this!” He gestured to the camera. August giggled and clapped his hands “A-awesome.”</p><p>Griffin leaned his face in close to the camera and snap! A photo was taken. “This beaut right here has a ninety percent chance of making a fully produced photo every time. Pretty cool, right?” He half-bragged. “Wh-what’s it call- called?” “Snapgeist 6000. Got it from my dad’s garage.”</p><p>They spent a few minutes taking pictures of the scenery while chatting. It seemed peaceful. Y’know maybe Ms Leli was right. This was exactly what he needed to take his mind off. </p><p>“So yeah i totally bombed that science test Mr Emile gave. I know it was for like, 20% of our grade but c’mon! 40 questions and 10 essays!” “Th-that sucks.” Snap! Griffin pulled the plastic square out and- “..wait what the hell?” “Wh-what- what’s wrong?” The sudden change in tone was concerning. August looked over Griffin’s shoulder to see just what he was staring at. The picture was already there in full color despite not being processed in a red light room yet. The photo was of the feild. Everything was the same.</p><p>Except that there was a child running in the far left. A child running from a giant blurry creature that was so fast, it was hard to make out what it looked like from a sideways view. All August could see was it’s mouth opening to a nearly perfect 90 degrees angle.</p><p>“Wa-wait. Wait h-hold- hold on-“ August looked up from the picture and to the field again. The field was empty. Just silence and a less peaceful atmosphere.</p><p>An uneasy feeling started to grow. Like a hot-cold feeling just behind your neck.</p><p>“That’s.. wait, that’s what Lucas was last seen wearing, right?” Griffin pointed out, shoving the photograph to August’s hands and now digging inside his own backpack. He pulled out one of the many missing posters he had in his bag, reading it once again out loud “..last seen wearing a lavender sweater, blue jeans and purple sneakers with yellow stripes.” </p><p>August looked at the photograph in his hands. The child fitted that exact same description “B-but- but that’s impossible! H-how- we- we would’ve he-heard or at least se-seen him!” </p><p>The uneasy feeling grew and the air became cold. The once shining sun was now blocked by clouds. </p><p>Griffin shoves everything in his bag and picked up his camera again, grabbing August’s hand “We’re ditching school. We need to get these photos processed.” </p><p>——-</p><p>“..do you think he’s still in Nath’s house?” A whisper was heard from Maple’s left. It was currently math class and 3rd period. Next up was science. </p><p>“Dunno. He better be out by the end of school. God knows Janus wouldn’t want that kid in his house for long.” Maple whispered back, trying his best to pay attention to the equations on the board while doing so. </p><p>“And so if x is divisible by a and b, we’d know that-“</p><p>“But what if he isn’t? You know Janus is good at telling if people are lying or not. He’s a fucking cop!” </p><p>“And was that a swear I just heard, Mr Follier?”</p><p>“..sorry-“ “You better be, young man. Now anyways!” Ms Leli continued on with the lecture. </p><p>Maple glared to the dumbass next to him “Well, it’s Nath we’re talking about. Who knows what she’ll do to try and go with the plan. There’s always.. a twist when she does anything.”</p><p>Philip nodded in agreement “Well whatever. What matters is that he’ll be gone when we go back to her house and we can continue trying to find Lucas.” </p><p>“That’s one thing we can agree on.” Maple huffed, jotting down equations on his notebook. </p><p>It was then Mr Emile burst into the door. Ms Leli flinched in her seat and huffed “Well Mr Picani! I do hope this is something important that you forgot how to knock!” She joked lightheartedly. Mr Emile’s face went red and he chuckled nervously “S-sorry, miss uh lady- but have you seen Nath? She- she didn’t go to science earlier and I left early today so-“ He took in a deep breath. The students in the class whispered amongst themselves and furrowed their brows, “Have- have any of you seen her today?” His answer was shaken heads and muttered ‘no’s. “O-okay. I might have to.. clock out early today.” There was no way he’s going to continue the day without knowing if his kid was safe or not. </p><p>Maple and Philip shared a knowing glance. Their plan was working smoothly. </p><p>——</p><p>“So uh, this is my living room! My dads use it for greeting guests, clients, watching TV, playing twister on the sofa and stuff like that.” She rambled on, dragging Morrigan downstairs into the living room by the hand. </p><p>“What do you want to have for breakfast? My dad made ham sandwiches and oat milk but if you want something else, I’m sure I can cook something up for you? Can’t guarantee that I won’t burn anything down but-“ She was about to climb on the shelf to get flour for pancakes but then heard a light tapping sound behind her. Nath turned around and saw Morrigan tapping the TV screen with a curious face. </p><p>“Oh! That’s my TV! 22-inch and way bigger than Maple’s. Pretty cool right?” She was about to start rambling again when Morrigan had already moved on to the next object that caught his eye. Picture frames. Picture frames of the three members of the family all together. From Janus and Emile’s wedding photos to the first day they first adopted 8 year-old Nath. She smiled fondly looking at the photos, “Those are my dads! Emile Rose Picani-Anwir and Janus Picani-Anwir.” Morrigan then pointed at the young baby girl that had blonde hair next to Janus’ photo, “Oh that’s.. that’s baby Donna. I never got to meet her.” ..neither did Emile or Janus for very long. </p><p>Morrigan stared at Nath’s picture. One where Nath was wearing a pretty purple dress for her birthday “..pretty.” That made Nath’s face turn pink but she shrugged it off “I guess! I was waaaay younger in that picture though.” She was like what, 10? She’s 13 now which was the perfect age to get into getting all pretty with the help of teen magazines and such.</p><p>Then a knock came on the door.</p><p>“Nath?? Nath, are you in there?” Emile’s voice called from the other side of the door. Nath cursed under her breath and grabbed Morrigan’s hand, rushing him upstairs and shushing him, pointing to her room “My dad’s here. Go to my room and don’t make a sound okay? There’s a lightswitch right next to the door, you just need to press it if you get scared of the dar-“ “Nath? Is there someone upstairs with you?” “Just mE, DAD-“ Morrigan nodded and followed her instructions, leaving the door just a teensy bit open though. </p><p>Nath rushed downstairs where Emile was waiting, a concerned look on his face. The moment she was downstairs, he gave her a big hug “Oh thank god you’re here. I thought something happened to you on the way to school!” Nath muttered a ‘sorry’ and hugged back, preparing herself for whatever lecture that was going to be given. </p><p>The fatherly figure gestured for them to sit on the couch. She stayed silent, fiddling with her sleeves and the edges of her skirt.</p><p>“..Nath, why didn’t you go to school?” She didn’t respond immediately, collecting her thoughts and excuse “I.. I just had a headache today. Wanted to tell you but the last time I told you you made me go to school anyway so I just-“ “Nath.” “And I’m not blaming it on you! I was just not thinking straight and now I really regret it because I know how much you don’t like students skipping school and-“ “Nath.” “I’m sorry, dad. Please still love m-“ “Nathasya!” That snapped her out of the nervous rambling of an excuse “Uh- sorry! Ye-yeah?” </p><p>He took a deep breath and let out a sigh “I’m not.. mad at you. I’m not upset, kiddo.” Emile told her truthfully, “..you’re not?” Well that was a surprise “Kiddo I’m.. of course, I’ll still love you. No I uh, I’m upset that you made me worry. But I’m not upset that you felt bad and had to stay at home! Listen,” He held her hands gently, “All the things that’s been happening lately to Lucas? I’m sure it must be stressful and I understand.” Ever since Janus and Logan split up, things were a bit awkward with Nath and Lucas but they still came around and stayed best friends in the end! “O-oh..”</p><p>“Nath, I know.. it must’ve been hard for you to hear that you won’t be sharing the same house with Lucas that day and I know you were close back then.” Understatement but a good word choice. The black haired girl nodded “I guess..”</p><p>“You know you can come to me if you have any problem right? Any kind of problem at all.” He then smiled “I’m here for you, kiddo.” Emile wrapped her up in a big hug.</p><p>Nath.. was now feeling all kinds of things. Guilty from lying about so many things just from today, sad from getting reminded about Lucas and.. happy. Happy to hear that her dad still loved her after all that. Happy to hear that he still wanted her here after everything. She returned the hug with a light squeeze “..thanks dad.” “..Nathasya Picani-Anwir, are you crying?” “NO- I just cut some onions earlier!” “Nathasya ‘I’m-always-happy’ Picani-Anwir!” He held back a snort, which earned a light slap from Nath. </p><p>She went back upstairs shortly after that, running up to her room and slowly entering as to not spook Morrigan “You okay?” Nath looked over to Morrigan but.. he was sitting by her DnD table. The one she and her three friends would use if they wanted to play at her house “Whatcha lookin’ at there?” He was staring at the gnome figure on the table for a while and then  his eyes drifted to the little drawer on the table. Out of curiosity, he opened the drawer. </p><p>Nath sat to his right, just making sure he wasn’t doing anything suspicious. Inside the drawer, he took out a picture of the group. Four of them together. They had named themselves ‘The Elements’ because of the science fairs they won first place every year. She giggled, seeing the picture again. It was taken not too long ago before.. the disappearance.</p><p>But then Morrigan did something unexpected. Something that certainly confused Nath to a degree. He pointed at Lucas in the picture. He pointed at him and then looked at her, showing her the picture “What? What is it?” She rushed, holding her hands up to surrender whatever. Morri shook his head and kept pointing at Lucas’ face in the picture “..do you- do you know him??” He nodded. </p><p>Nath looked at him as if he grew a second head, “You’re in trouble. You’re in trouble, aren’t you?” Having a cop as a dad had its perks. Mostly being able to tell if people were hiding something.</p><p>Morrigan looked down at the ground and nodded, making his hand into a gun shape and pointing it at her forehead for a moment before lowering it down. “..d-danger..” </p><p>——-</p><p>Janus had a little conversation to prepare.</p><p>Logan’s parents lived in the big city, far from Hawkins. Fun fact! Janus was also a big city cop once when he was dating Logan. </p><p>They moved out after an accident.</p><p>He didn’t have too much time to think about it before his car pulled over in front of the Cato household. </p><p>“It’s fine, Anwir. You’re a cop! Just march over there and ask them if they know anything about Lucas! That’s all and then you can go back to sweet home Hawkins.” He muttered some encouragement to himself while taking off his seatbelt. “Fuckin’.. just think of it as meeting them the first time again. Yeah.” Do it for Logan.</p><p>He climbed out of the car, a nervousness creeping up his neck and freezing his hands. </p><p>The house was a big one. Owned by a rich family. It was very.. cozy inside back then. Janus wasn’t sure if it still is now. </p><p>Deep breaths.</p><p>Janus took measured and confident steps to the front door and gave three sharp knocks, “Hawkins police.” He called out to the people inside. There was then some rustling inside. </p><p>A tall and poised man soon opened the door. Mr Jeffrey Cato. “Janus.” He hissed, making Janus want to either slap him in the face or curl up in a ball and cry. No in between. “..Mr Cato.” This is gonna be tough. “Is there a reason you came crawling back here? Don’t tell me that failure is here with you.” Janus bit the inside of his cheek, collecting his words and trying his best to follow protocol. </p><p>“Lucas is missing. Lucas Bronlee. I’m just.. following protocol to check the closest relative’s residence.” You get used to lying after a few years. You get even more used to it when you’re a cop. </p><p>“So he killed one child and lost another. Y’know, you should just arrest him right now and be done with it, Anwir. With an ex like that? There is no way in all the stars that you don’t hate him.” A bitter tone permanently stuck to his tongue with any mention of Logan. Janus began to see red and he could swear he could hear a faint kettle whistling in the background.</p><p>Stll, he kept his cool. </p><p>“..right. It’s just a quick search and I’ll be on my way.” The quicker he searched, the quicker he’ll be out of here and that would be just delightful right now. </p><p>Jeffrey and Martha were assholes. Janus was sure of that the moment they kicked Logan out for being gay. That week, Janus had to help him through a lot of shit. Financially and emotionally. Maybe that’s why Janus still despised them to the core. </p><p>The search took an hour and a half, going through every room in the house. Some things have been renovated and some furniture has been moved since he last came here but nothing seemed to be out of place. Everything was as it should be in the house. </p><p>Janus was just about done until he heard Jeffrey whispering to his wife in another room “..I swear, they both need to either be fixed or murdered. See what happens when gays roam around the earth? Bad things happen and innocent children die..” </p><p>“..Jeffrey, if you want to say shit about me, at least say it to my face and not behind my back.” He hissed. The politician balled his fists and marched up to Janus, easily towering over him, “Say that again to me, boy. I dare you.” </p><p>So Janus dared, “Go to hell, fuckface.” WHACK! </p><p>Janus tumbled back, holding a hand up to his cheek, “..my job is done here. Have fun being the scums of the earth.” He scowled, now marching out the door and slamming the door shut. </p><p>He didn’t want to think about it. It was just a punch. It’s nothing too bad. It’s fine. </p><p>He deserves this, doesn’t he? </p><p>He deserves this for still loving Logan. </p><p> </p><p>He still loved the way the other spoke with a fire in his voice, how he passionately ranted about the things he cared about. He loved the way Logan would curse every small thing that could be cursed. People said that those who swore a lot lacked the vocabulary to properly express what they meant, but with Logan, it just felt like he was adding color to words that were so grey on their own. He loved the little things, how adorable he looked shuffling out of his bedroom in that unicorn onesie, how he stuck his tongue out when he was focused, or rubbed the back of his neck whenever he was flustered or nervous. He loved how much Logan cared, about his cousin, about others, everything. He cared so much and it sent a pang through his heart to see him so distressed over everything that’s been happening. </p><p>Even after all this time, he still loves him. It’s kind of hard not to.</p><p>Janus got in the car and started it, driving away just on the edge of the speed limit. “I’m fine. This is fine. I shouldn’t-” He bit back a sob from escaping his throat, quickly wiping the tears that were blurring his vision on his sleeve. </p><p>Dispatch started speaking from the shitty speakers his office got him “Anwir? Anwir, we got a 10-100. I need you to come get a look. Where the hell are you?” He grumbled and pressed the reply button “I’ll be right there.” </p><p>“Jesus fuck.. It’s that Benny’s guy. The restaurant’s owner. Possible murder by shooting.”</p><p>-----</p>
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